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Mastercard and American Express invest in consumer finance platform Divido

Mastercard and American Express have invested in Divido to deliver on its vision to become the world’s largest platform for consumer finance.

Image: Mastercard and American Express among investors backing Divido to emerge as world’s largest platform for consumer finance. Photo: courtesy of Divido.

Divido announced a $15m Series A raise led by Dawn Capital and DN Capital, with additional participation from Mastercard, American Express Ventures and earlier investors.

The company will use the capital for expanding its global operations. At present, the firm’s platform is available in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Nordics and the US.

Plans are underway to extend the platform to 10 new countries by the end of next year.

The company’s board has appointed Renier Lemmens as chairman, who earlier served as CEO for PayPal EMEA and chief operating officer for international retail and commercial banking division of Barclays.

Divido CEO Christer Holloman said: “Proactive retailers know they have to try new initiatives to grow sales. Offering customers the option to pay later doesn’t just increase footfall and eyeballs, but it also raises average order values and conversion rates.

“And what’s good for the retailers is also good for the lenders who are providing this credit, and the intermediaries that facilitate the transactions.”

Divido is a consumer finance platform for retailers, lenders and payment intermediaries to provide finance to B2C and B2B customers at the checkout, online and instore.

The platform supports customers to spread the cost of any product or service over a period of time by providing instant access to credit at the moment of purchase, online and in-store.

The platform, which connects multiple lenders to deliver high accept rates and low fees, is also omni-channel, available online, in-store and via mobile, and works across multiple countries through one integration.

Divido works with more than 1000 partners, including Mercedes-Benz, BNP Paribas and Shopify. The company works in several markets and with multiple lenders, as well as on track to process its first $1bn worth of credit applications in 2019.

Mastercard global acceptance senior vice president Zahir Khoja said: “By providing people with financing choices to suit their lifestyle, along with a simple experience when it comes to paying, people can enjoy shopping more easily.”

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